The Hill News

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said this week that his pick for vice president would “a person of wisdom and judgment,” such as former vice president Dick Cheney.

Romney, holding a town hall in Sun Lakes, Arizona on Wednesday afternoon, praised Cheney, who served with former President George W. Bush, and said “that’s the kind of person I’d like to have” on his own ticket.

“Whether you agree or disagree with him, this is a man of wisdom and judgment, and he could have been president of the United States," Romney said.

Romney did not rule out naming a “Tea Party person” to the ticket when asked. "I will pick someone who could be president," he said.

Speaking at a gated retirement community, Romney sought to gain traction on the Social Security issue that has been his main line of attack against his competition for frontrunner status Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Romney pledged again to reform and “save”! the program rather than abolish it or give it back to the states.

"You guys have not taken advantage of Social Security; you contributed to it,” he told the crowd of mostly seniors, according to MSNBC. “There are no bad guys in Social Security, so I don't call it a Ponzi scheme."